Handle holder



April 1949- E. w. CHRISTY ET AL I 2,466,379

HANDLE HOLDER Filed Sept. 8, 1947 Patented Apr. 5, 1949 HANDLE HOLDER Elmer W. Christy, Cincinnati, Ohio, and Donald F. Christy, Hinsdale, 111.; said Elmer W. Christy assignor to said Donald F. Christy and said Donald F. Christy assignor to said Elmer W.

Christy Application September 8, 1947, Serial No. 772,874

Claims.

The present invention relates to holders of the type (commonly referred to as broom holders and has for an object the provision of a holder for suspending household and garden implements of the type having round straight handles.

Another object is to provide a holder of this kind that avoids the known disadvantages of the inexpensive broom holders now known and used without resort to complicated construction and without requiring specially made expensive mounting means.

Still another object of the invention is toprovide a simple loop type broom holder that is formed of a one piece metal stamping arranged at its top to receive a conventional screw eye whereby the holder is mounted on a sidewall for self-guiding limited movement that enables the user to insert and remove a broom or similarly handled implement without requiring the holder to be touched by the hand.

A further object of the invention is to provide a one-piece stamped metal holder that is effective to suspend implement handles of a greater than usual range of handle diameters.

These and other important objects are attained by the means described herein and exemplified in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a device operatively mounted on a wall and showing in broken lines a fragment of an implement handle in position therein.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom end view of the device lookine in the direction of the arrows on line 3--3.

Fig. 4 is a crossectional view taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

By the present invention we retain the advantage of economy of manufacture that characterized the simple loop type broom holders and eliminate the disadvantages commonly found in such holders.

The previously known holders have the advantage of employing a common screw eye as a mounting member for a one piece stamped sheet metal loop element. The latter element however dangles loosely from the screw eye and needs to be held in position with one hand while the broom handle is inserted with the other hand. Thus these old devices not only require the user to employ both hands to insert the broom, but the device must be mounted sufficiently low on the wall to enable intended users to conveniently grasp it with one hand.

According to the present invention the device is arranged to be self-guiding on the suspending screw eye in a manner that allows the end of a broom handle or similar article to be entered into the loop without manually positioning the loop and hence the device may be mounted at any desired elevation where the user can reach it with the free end of the handle of the broom or other implement.

In the preferred construction shown herein the device comprises a one piece stamped sheet metal loo-p element l0 in the shape of a centrally apertured disc H having an elongated radially extending tongue [2. The tongue has a narrow longitudinal slot l3 along the center and terminating at opposite ends at substantially equal distances from the free end of the tongue and from the juncture of the tongue with the disc respectively. A hole I4 is located on the center line of the tongue [2 at its junction with the disc. There remains a short section of metal l5 between the hole l4 and the adjacent end of slot 13, the length of which section is somewhat less than the inside diameter of the ring portion l6 of a screw eye I! whereby the completed holder is to be suspended.

The tongue I2 is bent rearwardly and downwardly into an inverted U -shape intermediate the ends of the slot so that an open topped groove is formed in the U-bend Ill. The ring I6 of screw eye I! is opened slightly and is entered edgewise into the groove or slot I3 until the hole I4 is in position to receive the end [9 of the ring. The metal section [5 is thus caused to traverse the inside opening of the ring, while the bent sides 20 of slot l3 ride as guides on the opposite faces of the ring. The periphery of hole l4 and the sides of slot l3 thus serve as guides on spaced apart portions of the ring of the screw eye allowin the loop element to swing toward and away from a wall 2| in which the screw eye is fastened but preventing lateral swinging of the loop-element.

The disc has its central aperture 22 formed as an ellipse with the major axis thereof at right angles to the center line of the tongue and further having opposed notches 23-23 each providing points 2424 on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the loop element. The disc portion is bent arcuately by curving the lat eral sides rearwardly and thereby the points 24-24 at the top and bottom of the aperture are disposed saliently in position to engage the surface of an inserted round handle 25 and insure a positive bite of all four points on handles of substantially any diameter that will pass through the major aperture and will not enter appreciably between adjacent points 24.

The arcuate curvature of the loop element allows the free end of a handle to be easily guided into the aperture and the downturned end 26 of the tongue rides smoothly against the surface of the supporting Wall and holds the transversely curved bottom part of the loop element clear of the wall. The outer end of slot IS in the tongue also limits the extent of guided movement of the member I on the screw eye since it may encounter the shank of the screw eye I! and hold the bottom end of the device when empty at a suitable distance from the wall to readily allow the end of a rod or handlesuch as 25 to be entered under the arcuate loop I I and thrust upwardly through the major aperture 22.

In use the device is mounted at any desired elevation on a sidewall. The screw eye is entered and turned so that the plane of the ring l6 thereof is substantially vertical. The loop when inoperative is held in a downwardly and outwardly inclined relation to the wall by the end 26 of the tongue or by the abutment of the end of slot IS on the shank of the screw eye. The guiding action of the device on the screw eye thus permits the end of a handle to be thrust beneath the device and in raising the end of the handle, the said end is guided through aperture 22 for a desired distance. When the handle is released the device swings gravitationally toward the wall with the handle and causes the pairs of salient points 24 to engage the handle in the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2 thereby suspending the handled implement against the Wall. A slight lifting of the handle while moving the lower end away from the wall preparatory to removing it from the bite of the points permits Withdrawal from the holder in an oblique angular direction, the weight of the holder being thus supported by the handle 25 during the withdrawal of the latter. These operations require only the use ofthe hand which grasps the handle.

The device with a given size of aperture and the points 24 at opposite sides will accommodate handles of a greater variety of diameters than was heretofore possible in a relatively plane holder loop. Thus the device may be made to accommodate a variety of garden implements which can be suspended out of the reach of small children by placing the holders high on a supporting sidewall.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination a sheet metal plate comprising a disc portion having an enlarged center aperture for receiving a broom handle, an integral radially extending tongue at the top edge of the disc, the tongue having a slot longitudinally thereof intermediate its ends and a hole intermediate the end of the slot and the adjacent portion of the disc, said tongue bent transversely of the slot intermediate the ends of the slot whereby an open-topped slot is formed through the bend in the tongue, and a screw eye having its annular ring portion passing through the hole in the tongue and between the longitudinal side edges of said slot.

2. In a holder of the class described a one piece sheet metal plate having disc portion with an elliptical aperture therein, an integral tongue extending radially of the disc and perpendicularly to the major axis of said aperture, the tongue having a longitudinal center slot intermediate its ends and a hole intermediate the slot and the disc, the disc being notched at opposite sides of its elliptical aperture in substantial alignment with the slot and hole in said tongue, and arcuately bent on'the line of the slot, hole and notches whereby the notches each present salient points into the aperture in the disc, the tongue having its free end bent rearwardly and downwardly to substantially U-shape intermediate the ends of the slot, and a screw eye having the body of the ring end thereof passing through the hole in the tongue and between the edges of the slot, the downturned end of the tongue serving as a wall engaging member for holding the arcuately curved disc in a depending outwardly inclined position for entry of the end of a handle into the aperture to be supported by engagement of said salient points.

3. A holder comprising a sheet metal disc having an enlarged aperture having notches providing opposed pairs of salient points for engaging the surface of an inserted handle, an integral tongue on the disc aligned with said notches and having a longitudinal slot and a hole, said tongue being 'rearwardly and downwardly turned intermediate the ends of the slot, and a screw eye comprising a ring portion and a threaded shank, the annular body of the ring portion passing through the said hole and between the longitudinal edges of the slot whereby the holder is free to pivot substantially about the center of the ring and is prevented from rocking laterally of the plane of the ring.

4. In a broom holder a laterally arcuate sheet metal loop having notches in opposed relation at the top and bottom interior periphery forming salient handle engaging points, and means to pivotally suspend the loop.

5. In a holder of the class described a one piece sheet metal plate comprising a centrally apertured disc portion and an integral tongue having an open-topped longitudinal slot therein, the disc being bent along the center line of the slot in the tongue to form a handle guide way in the disc leading to the aperture therein, the tongue having a hole therein spaced from the end of the slot and located on the center line of the slot, and a screw eye comprising an annular ring portion passing through the hole and guiding on its major faces on the sides of the slot, whereby the plate is arranged for pivotal movement about the axial center of the ring and the center of said handle guide way is retained in substantially the plane of the screw eye ring. I I

EIMER W. CI-IRISTY. DONALD F. CHRISTY.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name- Date 551,823 Hopp'e's Dec. 24, 1895 738,911 Johns Sept. 15, 1903 1,109,413 Gorham Sept. 1, 191 i 1,509,722 Fenstermaker Sept. 23, 1924 

